Boom Town

You let one of them go, but that's nothing new.

I must admit, I don't recall much of Boom Town except for the basic outline of the plot and the restaurant scene. I believe this was a last minute replacement episode and since the Slitheen costumes were on hand, it was easy to create a story that would have cost very little and been quick to make.

The plot, as I recall, involves the last surviving member of the Slitheen from Aliens of London/World War Three, Margaret Blaine, having spirited herself away to Cardiff and been elected mayor. She is using her political power build a nuclear reactor that would then fail and be used as cover to make her escape from Earth. The Doctor arrests her and is determined to take her back to her home planet but she begs him to allow her to leave since she knows she will be executed. Jack Harkness sets off a trap that gives Margaret a chance to escape but she is caught in the heart of the TARDIS, which she looks in to and reverts back to an egg. The Doctor disables the trap and states that he will take Margaret back to her home planet and placed in the care of a new family.

I'm not going to say that this was a bad story, only that it was not overly memorable. I enjoy morality plays, especially when there is a real conundrum to be had about what is right. Of course, I also don't think there was any real question that Margaret should have been taken back and executed for her crimes. Nurture has a great deal to do with it, but in the end, one must own up to the decisions that they make.

But, the narrative for the Ninth Doctor was just how broken he was after the war. Even without the war, he was surrounded by death and to have a direct hand in a death where it was not necessary to ensure his or his companion's survival did make for an interesting question. I go back to the restaurant scene. Margaret was a bit disingenuous as she did try to kill the Doctor and escape. All while that is going on, she probes the wound of the war, feeding into guilt and the idea of what would one more death do.

But one can't judge an entire episode based on a single scene. There is the rest of the story and that is what drags things down. You have Mickey, Rose, and Jack and their role is minuscule. I can recall that Mickey and Rose more or less end their relationship officially and Jack sets off the surfboard which opens the rift. That opening of the rift is what allows the TARDIS console to open up and revert Margaret back to her egg state, effectively creating the easy resolution to the dilemma of whether to take Margaret back or not. Again, its not bad, it's just not memorable either.

I can't say that I think I would jump up to watch this again, but I know I could watch parts of it again fairly readily. I would also say that of the three episodes featuring the Slitheen, it is certainly the best. That may not be saying much, but it will still allow it a higher rating in my book.

Overall personal score: 2.5 out of 5